Chief Justice Appoints 8 New Judicial Council Members

Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero appointed four new voting members and four new advisory (non-voting) members to the Judicial Council. Five members were also reappointed.

“The council consists of volunteers that offer their time and expertise to help make our court system consistent, impartial, and accessible,” said the Chief Justice. “I thank our new and outgoing members for their dedication and service to the people of California.”

The following new voting members of the council begin their terms Sept. 15:

• Presiding Judge Bunmi O. Awoniyi, Superior Court of Sacramento County, served as supervising judge for family law and probate for four years before becoming the assistant presiding judge in 2022. She serves as Primary Orientation faculty for the Judicial Council’s Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) and has taught numerous other CJER courses at the Family Law Institute, Domestic Violence Institute, and the Cow County Judges Institute. She is also a member of the council’s Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee and Family Law Curriculum Committee. (more bio information)
   
• Justice Stacy E. Boulware Eurie, Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District (Sacramento), previously served on the Superior Court of Sacramento County for 15 years, presiding over civil, criminal, and appellate matters—she also served as presiding judge of the juvenile court from 2010 to 2018. For more than 10 years, Justice Boulware Eurie has served as faculty for the Judicial Council’s Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) on a wide range of subject matter and leadership development courses, including leading CJER's efforts in the creation of new substantive content on water and environmental law. (more bio information)
   
• Assistant Presiding Judge Tamara L. Wood, Superior Court of Shasta County, has presided over criminal, civil, and probate matters as well as numerous jury trials. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she worked as the court’s general counsel, supervising research attorneys and representing the court in all aspects of judicial administration. She is a mentor judge in the Small and Rural Court Judicial Mentorship Program and serves as chair of the Judicial Council’s Civil and Small Claims Advisory Committee—she previously served as a member of the committee’s Ad Hoc Committee on Civil Remote Appearance Rules and the Gender Identity and Judicial Council Forms Working Group. (more bio information)
   
• Attorney Craig M. Peters, San Francisco, is a partner and trial attorney at Altair Law, handling complex and catastrophic cases. He was previously a criminal defense attorney for 13 years, trying a range of cases from misdemeanors to felonies. In addition to teaching trial skills at UC Law San Francisco and University of San Francisco School of Law, Mr. Peters has been a professor of constitutional law and evidence at San Francisco Law School. He has served as the president of the Consumer Attorneys of California and is the incoming president of the Council of Presidents for the American Association for Justice. (more bio information)

The following four new advisory (non-voting) members of the council begin their terms starting Sept. 15:

• Judge Khymberli S. Apaloo, Superior Court of San Bernardino County, is appointed to the council as the president-elect of the California Judges Association (CJA). She has cochaired CJA’s Elimination of Bias and Inequality in the Judiciary Committee and chaired the Court Administration and Technology Committee. Judge Apaloo also served as a member of the Judicial Council’s Implicit Bias Product Work Group. (more bio information)
   
• Justice Joan K. Irion, Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One (San Diego), previously served on the Superior Court of San Diego County. Justice Irion devotes substantial time to civics education for youth and to the improvement of California’s courts through her work on behalf of self-represented litigants, and she frequently serves as a lecturer for judicial courses and continuing education classes for the appellate bar. She currently serves as vice-chair of the Judicial Council’s Appellate Advisory Committee. (more bio information)
   
• Presiding Judge Lisa M. Rogan, Superior Court of San Bernardino County, has also served as supervising judge of the court’s Victorville and Rancho Cucamonga Districts and of the San Bernardino Justice Center’s Criminal Division. She is a member of the Judicial Council’s Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee and its Executive Committee and was previously a member of the council’s Appellate Advisory Committee and the Court Security Advisory Committee. (more bio information)
   
• Commissioner Ryan Davis, Superior Court of Sacramento County, initially presided over traffic, small claims, and unlawful detainer cases, and now presides over a family law department. Prior to the bench, Commissioner Davis served as a deputy attorney general at California’s Department of Justice, where he represented Californians in a variety of complex legal cases, including work surrounding constitutional and statutory law, government operations, elections, state mandates, criminal law, and firearms. (more bio information)  

More bio information on the new Judicial Council members

The following reappointed members of the council start their newest terms on September 15:

• Administrative Presiding Justice Brad R. Hill, Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District (Fresno), as a voting member
   
• Associate Justice Carin T. Fujisaki, Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Three (San Francisco), as a voting member
   
• Presiding Judge Maria D. Hernandez, Superior Court of Orange County, as a voting member
   
• Judge Judith K. Dulcich, Superior Court of Kern County, as a voting member
   
• Judge Kyle S. Brodie, Superior Court of San Bernardino County, as a non-voting member

Departing Council Members
Individuals concluding their terms as council members as of Sept. 14 include Judge Jonathan B. Conklin, Judge Samuel K. Feng, Judge Erica R. Yew, and Attorney David D. Fu.

Judicial Council Membership
According to the state Constitution, the Chief Justice chairs the Judicial Council and appoints one other Supreme Court justice, three justices from the courts of appeal, 10 trial court judges, two nonvoting court administrators, “and any other nonvoting members as determined by the voting membership of the council.” The State Bar’s governing body appoints four members, and the state Senate and Assembly each appoint one member.

Council members are volunteers and do not receive additional compensation for their service. Most members serve three-year terms, and each year about a third of the membership rotates off and a new group is sworn in.